177-216

Directions and perspectives of the economic policy during the Regency

• Μπαλόγλου, Χρήστος Π.

This article sets out to present and discuss the economic policy of the Regency from its arrival in Greece (20th January 1833) until the first of June 1835. In order to facilitate the reader’s appreciation and comprehension, the article opens with an introductory section describing the economic situation in Greece at the time of the arrival of the Regency, the targets of its economic policy and the measures which have been taken in specific sectors of the economy (public finance, agriculture, currency, trade). One of the first acts of the Regency was the introduction of an entirely new currency system to take the place of Kapodistrian and Ottoman coinage as the chief medium of exchange and the major standards of value. By a royal degree of 8 February 1833, the drachma, divided into 100 lepta, was established as the new and only national coin. All payments to the state had to be made in the new currency or in specified foreign silver coins of gold and silver, whose value was established in terms of the new currency. Turkish money, still the main medium of exchange and the major basis for accounting, was excluded from the category of acceptable foreign coins because its depreciated value in the international money market had a depressing effect on the value of Greek liquid capital and because its liability to manipulation by the Ottoman government rendered Greece financially vulnerable to the former overload. The new monetary system was therefore one of the last steps in the liberation from Ottoman control and a first step not only in the facilitation of commerce through a stable currency but in its reorientation from the Ottoman to the Western economic orbit. The Regency did not give a great attention to the agricultural sector, although the main characteristic of its policy was the undertaking of measures for colonization and settlement. 1. First, by a royal ordinance passed in 1834, the state offered the following inducements to those entering Greece with the intention of purchasing land and establishing residence there. If intended for their own use, they could import, duty-free, used clothing, furniture and household items, agricultural implements, seeds and plants, wagons and carts, horses and harnesses. If they could prove that they had purchased or leased land, they could import also duty-free, sheep and horned cattle. Second, the dotation law of 1835 specifically made eligible Greeks who had participated in the war of independence but had not taken up residence in Greece. Finally, plans were discussed privately for the settlement of foreign colonies from abroad, particularly from the German lands, but they never really got past the drawing board. A reference to such possibilities appeared in the public explanatory note on the dotation law, issued by the government six months after its promulgation. If those eligible did not take advantage of their opportunity, it warned foreign colonists would eventually appear to buy some land and they would not be turned away. Commerce and navigation were the most vigorous sector of Greece’s economy. The Regency introduced mercantile laws founded on the French commercial code and established commercial tribunals in Nauplion, Patras, and Syra. The internal strife between the members of the Regency, -v. Maurer und v. Abel left the country in June 1834,- and the political instability in the country did not permit for a better application of the measures.1. J. Petropoulos "The Greek economy during the first decade of Othonian rule", Δελτίον της Ιστορικής και Εθνολογικής Εταιρείας της Ελλάδος 24 (1981) 142-221, at pp. 190-191.

• Economics and Business

• Οικονομική ιστορία

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